Wednesday of the
Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ezra 9:5-9; Luke 9:1-6)
In the middle of the American Civil War, President
Lincoln signed a proclamation calling for a day of public prayer and
humiliation. The document recognized that
while God had been so generous in His blessings upon the United States, the
nation had forgotten Him. This spirit, notable
for its absence today, is similar to the sentiment expressed by Ezra in the
first reading.
The issue causing Ezra’s public repentance with the
approval of the people is the apostasy of many Israelites. In great numbers Jerusalem’s men have taken
foreign wives and converted to pagan idolatry.
Ezra knows that faith is both precious and elusive. Unless the people take strides to practice
and preserve their faith, it will slip from their possession like a fish held
out of water.
Few seem to have the stomach for private penance, much
less public demonstrations of remorse.
Friday is a day of penance on the books, but even church organizations
do not hold back from celebrating on that day.
Yet penance is more building up the self than tearing it down. It acknowledges God as the supreme source of a
people’s strength and appeals to Him to correct their faults.
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